American Rivers Lists
Hackensack River as
One of the Nation’s Most Endangered Rivers
By Hugh Carola
(Washington, DC)—
On April 11, an important but sobering milestone was reached in the ongoing
story of the Hackensack River. At
simultaneous press events in Washington DC and Secaucus, NJ, Hackensack
Riverkeeper and American Rivers, the national conservation organization dedicated to
protecting and restoring America's rivers, declared the Hackensack River to be one of the
thirteen most endangered rivers in the United States. The announcement came as part of the release of American
Rivers’ 16th annual America’s
Most Endangered Rivers report, which
exposes threats and mobilizes action to protect and restore locally and
nationally significant rivers.
The nation's leading river conservation organization pointed to the rapidly escalating development pressure that threatens both to destroy a significant portion of the Meadowlands and increase pollution entering reservoirs that supply drinking water for one million people. American Rivers and Hackensack Riverkeeper call upon federal, state and local authorities to stop the development pressures looming in the Meadowlands and to stem the tide of sprawl in the upper watershed.
“Even in
this urban area, poorly planned development can damage natural resources that
people and wildlife depend on,” said American Rivers President Rebecca Wodder.
"Do we really need more pavement in New York and New Jersey?”
“The short answer to
Rebecca’s question is ‘No,’” responded Captain Bill Sheehan.
.
As Tidelines readers know, the
Hackensack River winds south from Rockland County, New York, into New Jersey
where it empties into Newark Bay. The river's estuary – the Meadowlands -- is
the last large block of open space in this densely populated region. As such,
the Meadowlands supports a remarkable diversity and concentration of birds,
fish, and other animal life, including 65 species of nesting birds and 50
species of fish and shellfish. The National Marine Fisheries Service has
officially designated the Meadowlands as Essential Fish Habitat.
Despite those facts, development pressure
is unrelenting: the Virginia-based
Mills Corporation (with the active assistance of the Hackensack Meadowlands
Development Commission) continues to push its plan for a mega-mall and office
complex on more than 200 acres of wetlands.
The ill-conceived project also calls for the transformation of 300 more
acres into stormwater detention basins (A plan strongly opposed by the US
Environmental Protection Agency). Mills
cannot move forward unless it receives a permit to fill/alter the wetlands from
the US Army Corps of Engineers. During the preparation of a draft Environmental
Impact Statement for the development last fall, the Corps received 9,000 public
comments – 85% of which strongly objected to the plan.
"Let’s face it; the Meadowlands is the
premier open space asset in the New York metropolitan area”, said Capt. Bill,
“Where else can a person who lives in Hudson County, southern Bergen County or
New York City come just a short distance from home and see dozens of egrets
wading in the marsh, diamondback terrapins sunning themselves on the riverbank
or watch an osprey dive on a fish?”
Development pressure is also mounting in
the upper reaches of the river and the forested buffers that historically
surrounded the drinking water reservoirs are disappearing. In some places the buffers have been reduced
to strips only 50 feet wide. United Properties Group, the real estate arm of
United Water New Jersey continues to market these lands for development and
take legal action against those municipalities that have the “nerve” to try and
preserve these remnant forests. If
allowed to continue, the loss and fragmentation of more riverside habitat will
result in more polluted stormwater and runoff reaching the reservoirs,
threatening the quality and quantity of drinking water for over one million
people.
"The next time it rains, look at what
flows into the gutters," Wodder said. "That's what will end up in the
drinking water reservoirs for a million New Jersey residents if we don't
protect those forest buffers at the headwaters and upper reaches of the
Hackensack River." Already, tons
of floatable debris are removed annually from streams feeding directly into
United Water’s reservoirs.
American Rivers has joined Hackensack
Riverkeeper in urging Federal, State, and local agencies to exercise their
authority to prevent further damaging development and to strengthen protection
of the Hackensack River and the Meadowlands. In particular, the groups
recommended:
·
The Army Corps of Engineers should heed
the concerns that local citizens and federal and state agencies and deny the
permit for the Mills’ proposed shopping center development in the wetlands;
·
If the long-stalled Special Area
Management Plan (SAMP) must be resurrected, then the EPA, Army Corps of Engineers,
HMDC, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection should finalize
the SAMP with the primary goal of conserving -- not developing – the
Meadowlands;
·
The long-delayed Environmental Impact
Statement on the SAMP should be revived and completed through an open and
public process. The agencies involved in developing the SAMP should set an
explicit standard of allowing development only if it can be demonstrated to be
compatible with protecting the estuary;
·
The remaining Meadowlands marshes should
be given some form of permanent protection by federal and/or state agencies; and
·
Local communities along the upper
Hackensack River's remaining forest buffers should act to protect the habitat
that protects their drinking water. Riparian forests and other existing open
space tracts within the watershed should be protected through such methods as
land purchase, conservation easements, and development setbacks.
It is important to note that in 1996,
American Rivers listed the Hackensack as “Threatened”. Well, it’s five years later and our river is
worse off now than it was then. That’s
a very sad commentary on a state that prides itself on being an environmental
leader. But that’s what you get when
that very same state places the fate of an entire ecosystem into the hands of a
development commission.
On another level, this year’s listing of
the Hackensack River is a testimony to the esteem in which our watershed is
held its people. For without caring and
concerned people, the folks at American Rivers would have never heard of the
Hackensack and Riverkeeper would be little more than a lonely voice crying in
an ever-shrinking wilderness.